


Teeth

by Zaphrina



Series: Humans Are Space Orcs [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Humans Are Weird, Humans are space orcs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:07:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaphrina/pseuds/Zaphrina
Summary: Based on two Humans are Space Orcs posts on Teeth
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Humans Are Space Orcs [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004796
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58
Collections: Humans Are Space Orcs





	Teeth

Percy was used to getting questions about his species. Despite most of his crew attending the Space Academy ON EARTH, many of them never set foot off the campus. It also just so happened coincidentally that Percy was one of two humans on the ship. Actually, Annabeth was only half human, so she didn’t even count. 

So when his crewmates asked him weird probing questions, he tried not to take anything too personally. Sometimes he had fun with it, knowing that Earth was a Class 3 Death Planet (which made the construction of a Space Academy on this crazy planet even weirder). He liked to mess with them. That was how he found himself with a drop box outside his bedroom door for questions. He considered holding a Q&A, but it would take too much precious time to answer all of the questions he might get.

He was in his cabin on a boring night when one caught his eye. It was from Will, their resident medic. 

_ What is the metal wire in your mouth? _

Percy laughed, Will  _ would _ ask about his retainer. He figured it would be better off explaining this one in person, so he made his way to medical. He found Will in his office with his boyfriend, Nico (a science officer who often found himself getting injured). 

“I come bearing answers to your query,” Percy announced as he entered the spacious room.

“Ooh, great! Which one?”

“I only got to the one about the metal wire in my mouth,” Percy replied, holding up the note in his hand. “I figured it would be easier to explain in person.”

“You have a piece of metal in your mouth?” Nico frowned, looking a little green.

“Yeah, I’ll explain,” and with that, he launched into his explanation. “So, humans are born without teeth-”

“First question!” Will exclaimed. “What the fuck?”

“I know, I know. It’s weird. Some have teeth, some don’t. But basically, they’re little bones we use to chew food. They grow in soon after birth. However, in adolescence they fall out and newer, bigger ones grow in,” he paused for effect.

“That sounds fake,” Nico added dryly.

“I know, but it’s because our skulls grow and so we need to accommodate larger mouths.”

“Fascinating,” Will was furiously jotting notes down. “Go on.”

“So, in the in between period of losing the baby teeth and growing the adult teeth, there is room for error. The adult teeth can come in wrong. That could mean they’re oriented wrong, or in the wrong place entirely, or there are too many or not enough, or the palate is too small for the amount. There are a lot of issues.”

“Whoa slow down, isn’t this a process all humans go through? Shouldn’t there be a way to alter that so there are no errors?” Nico wondered aloud.

“You’d think so, but the closest we’ve gotten is correcting them once they’ve grown in wrong.”

“How would you correct bone placement?” Will asked with wide eyes, hand still writing chicken scratch on his page.   
“That’s where the metal bits come in. We get braces. We cement metal onto each tooth and connect them with a metal wire to move the teeth into place. It can actually be quite painful. IKt takes several years,” Percy frowned. “I had mine on for three years. It’s also very expensive.”

“You’re telling me you strap metal to your young’s teeth, without painkillers, over long periods of time? To the bones they use to eat? Which they have to do multiple times a day?” Will didn’t look nearly as nauseous as Nico, being a doctor and all, but he was looking concerned. 

“Yup, some for medical reasons and some for cosmetic ones. But the issue is, once you get the braces off, the teeth might move back into place, so we get either temporary or permanent retainers. Mine’s permanent. It is two pieces of metal around my back two molars, and a wire behind all of them to gently keep them in place,” he rubbed his tongue along the back of his teeth and felt it. 

“That’s… Horrifying.” Nico uttered.

“Oh that’s not even the worst. So many people have to get dental procedures because our diet isn’t suited to our teeth so we damage them constantly. They don’t even numb you for a lot of them,” Percy shrugged. “I had a few teeth pulled when I was a kid. No numbing. Really sucked and I cried all day.”

“I thought you said humans cared for their young?” Will wondered, scratching his head. “You seem to put them through a lot.”

“It’s for the best,” Percy shrugged.

“There seem to be a lot of things humans do that are ‘for the best’ that sound genuinely terrifying,” Nico added. 

“Maybe to you, but it’s normal for us.” Percy shrugged again. “Did I answer your question?”   
“Oh, yes! WIll exclaimed excitedly. “Tell me when you get to my question about human mating patterns. I’m very curious.” Percy huffed a laugh and left them in peace. That would be interesting.


End file.
